The ballots have been set for city races in Helena and East Helena, and for contests for seats on the Helena Citizens' Council.

Zoning Commission member Dan Casey filed just before the 5 p.m. deadline Thursday, becoming the seventh and final candidate to join the race for two open seats on the Helena City Commission.

He joins Midtowne/Sixth Ward Neighborhood Association President M.C. Beeby, HCC Chair Dan Bernhardt, Helena Regional Airport Authority board member Dan Ellison, Planning Board member Marshall Gingery, former teacher Eric Hummel, and Plan Helena President Dick Thweatt in the race.

Mayor Jim Smith will coast uncontested into his third mayoral term.

The Independent Record has been profiling the candidates, and articles covering Casey and Hummel will follow in the coming days.

The general election is set for Nov. 3, but city officials can opt to hold a primary race Sept. 15. Lewis and Clark County elections supervisor Marilyn Bracken said she interpreted a rather convoluted state law to mean the city won't be required to hold the primary.

City officials haven't decided whether to hold a mail-ballot election this fall. The 2007 city election was Helena's first mailbox contest, and the experiment turned out to be wildly successful. Voter turnout was 61.5 percent, higher than any city election in the past three decades and almost double the 2005 city turnout.

Another candidate filed for the East Helena City Council election, but an after-hours computer crash destroyed some of the notes for this article, and there was no way to get the information again from sources. County offices are closed today in recognition of Independence Day. East Helena's slate of candidates will be reported on as soon as possible next week.

The HCC's ballot expanded, but there will be no contested races in any of the council's seven districts. Each district has four representative seats, and no district had more than three candidates file. The HCC does consider appointments throughout the year, so the council has ongoing chances of increasing its roster throughout next year.

Here's a roundup of HCC filings:

District 1: Winston Greely, Kent Schlosser

District 2: Bob Clarkson, Bobbette Madonna, David Scrimm

District 3: Jim McCormick, Travis Owens, Eric Woodland

District 4: Ellen Bell

District 5: Albert Bruce Clark, Roy Hemry, Randy Phillips

District 6: James Penner, Carrie Severson

District 7: John Forbes, Bob Habeck, Janet Hess-Herbert

Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com